Police Warn Riau Fire Starters as SBY Lands in Province

Jakarta Globe, Mar 16, 2014

An Indonesian motorbike rider dives on a hazy street in Pekan Baru,
Riau on March 14, 2014. (EPA Photo)

Pekanbaru. The chief of the National Police has sent a strong warning to anyone caught illegally slashing and burning land in Riau: stop immediately or risk being shot for resisting arrest.

“If anyone fights back and endangers [officers or others], just shoot them,” National Police chief Gen. Sutarman said in Pekanbaru on Saturday.

He said the same policy should be applied to security or government officers allegedly involved in land burning.

“Shoot them as well,” Sutarman said according to Indonesian news portal republika.co.id.

He added that police have so far named 60 suspects for allegedly igniting fires in Riau.

Most of the suspects have been identified as local farmers. One plantation firm — National Sago Prima, a subsidiary of publicly-listed Sampoerna Agro — was also named a suspect, however.

Riau Police chief Brig. Gen. Condro Kirono, meanwhile, said his office had formed a special team consisting of 558 officers tasked exclusively with hunting down those responsible for setting land and forest fires in Riau.

The resulting haze from the fires has disrupted flights and has caused tens of thousands of local residents to suffer from respiratory illnesses.

The haze has also spread to neighboring provinces such as Jambi and West Sumatra. Jambi on Saturday reported nearly 56,000 of its residents also suffered from respiratory illnesses, kompas.com reported.

Condro said the team involved different organizations, including the Indonesian Military (TNI) as well as forest rangers, and was split up into nine smaller groups. Five of the groups have been sent to Bengkalis district and four to Pelalawan district.

“[The Pelalawan teams] will focus on Meranti Bay, which borders the Kerumutan Wildlife Conservation,” Condro said. “There have been lot of hotspots likely caused by  illegal logging [there].”

The Bengkalis teams, meanwhile, will concentrate on the Giam Siak Kecil Biosphere Reserve in the subdistrict of Bukit Batu. “The Bengkalis teams can also cross to Rupat island, where there are a lot of hotspots.”

Police made these statements as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono landed in Pekanbaru on Saturday to inspect the situation.

Upon arriving in Pekanbaru, the president and his entourage took a road trip to Rimbo Panjang village in Kampar district to see firsthand the remnants of the burnt lands. On Sunday, after a meeting with Riau Governor Annas Maamum, the president was scheduled to take another trip 120 km away to Siak district, which is among the regions worst hit by the fires.

“It’s better that we listen to the residents’ stories — of what our brothers have seen and witnessed, of their hopes,” Yudhoyono said in Pekanbaru on Sunday  according to the president’s official website. “Proper solutions will usually arise after we hear all of [the stories].”

The President, irritated by local officials’ slow response to the fire and haze issues, on Friday said he would take over and lead emergency measures himself if local officials and cabinet ministers continued to fail to address the problems.

Yudhoyono announced three emergency measures to handle the Riau fires: extinguish them as soon as possible, provide health treatment for affected residents and bolster law enforcement in affected areas. This despite the fact that the governor of Riau had already declared a state of emergency in the province last month.

The “Integrated Emergency Operation” initiated by the president will take place for three weeks, the president said.

Facts on the ground

On Sunday, citing satellite images, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported 171 hotspots in Riau, with Siak district reporting the most hotspots (78), followed by Indragiri Hilir (32) and Meranti (28).

“Officers have put out fires across 15,837 hectares of lands, from a total of 19,538 hectares burned,” the BNPB said. “Yesterday, air officers successfully dropped 60 water bombs on Giam Siak Kecil.”

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported visibility of 2 km at 6 a.m. on Sunday, marking a significant improvement from when visibility was less than 300 meters during the height of the crisis.

The agency also forecast light to heavy rains in Riau over the next two days, as well as showers until April, heightening hopes that fires and the haze could be further reduced.

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